California to Require Gay History in Schools

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LOS ANGELES — California will become the first state to require public schools to teach gay and lesbian history.

As expected, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill on Thursday that mandates that the contributions of gays and lesbians in the state and the country be included in social science instruction and in textbooks. School districts will have until next January to begin implementing the new law, which was also promoted in part as a way to combat bullying of gay and lesbian students.

“This is definitely a step forward, and I’m hopeful that other states will follow,” said Mark Leno, California’s first openly gay state senator, who sponsored the bill. “We are failing our students when we don’t teach them about the broad diversity of human experience.”

The state already requires schools to teach students about the contributions of some other minority groups, including black people and women. But until now, gay figures like Harvey Milk received little mention in state-approved textbooks.

The Democratic-controlled Legislature passed a similar bill in 2006, but Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican who was then the governor, vetoed it.

This time, however, California has a Democratic governor, and the legislation came on the heels of a highly publicized string of suicides among gay teenagers, including a 13-year-old boy from the state’s Central Valley.

Advocates for the legislation said they believed the shift would help make schools safer for gay and lesbian students, who are often ostracized.

“There is an increasing awareness in the public and among elected officials that we have to do something to address the problems of bullying, and the negative consequences” for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students, said Carolyn Laub, director of the Gay-Straight Alliance Network.

Some conservative lawmakers, however, continued to oppose the bill, saying that curriculum should be left to individual school districts.

“It’s a sad day for our republic when we have the government essentially telling people what they should think,” said Tim Donnelly, a Republican state assemblyman from San Bernadino. Mr. Donnelly said the law prohibited schools from presenting gays and lesbians “in anything other than a positive light, and I think that’s censorship right there.”

Though the new law will take effect in January, state textbooks and curriculum will not be updated for several years. In the meantime, local school districts will have to use supplemental materials in the curriculums.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: July 18, 2011


An article on Friday about California’s becoming the first state to require gay history in schools erroneously attributed a distinction to Mark Leno. While he is the first openly gay man to serve as a state senator, he is not California’s first gay state senator. Former Senator Sheila Kuehl holds that distinction.

The term 'Gay History' is too vague to be useful. If the public schools want to teach children that Gay people are brave, are bullied and often feel ostracized; and that this is wrong then I have no real problem with it. I think it is a shame that we are now legislating this sort of lesson, parents ought to teach it, by default. This sort of law is a part of a long process of making the government legislate from above, what society ought to teach from below, but I accept that if the government is in the values business, then these are good ones. I do however worry that the concept being exceptionally vague could be used to advance a political agenda beyond what I discussed above, if the scope exceeds that in practice, I would be in favor of a repeal.

I know this is kind of old, but I was curious what the good folks of PPR had to say about it.

Thank you for the help, but I didn't search for an older thread specifically because I wanted fresh replies. People change their minds, there's new people... etc.

Thank you for the help, but I didn't search for an older thread specifically because I wanted fresh replies. People change their minds, there's new people... etc.

Meh i think all these special history months are pointless. Its better to just integrate all these things into the regular curriculum. Why give special attention to something when you could let it blend into normalcy?

How is gay history going to help them get a job?

If they become obnoxious homophobic pricks it removes their chances of getting a job at companies in which managers are homosexuals.

You say it like it was a bad thing.